MOSCOW, October 12. /TASS/. The resolution on non-recognition of elections to the State Duma in Crimea adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) may complicate the return of the Russian delegation to PACE in 2017, Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the Russian State Duma’s Committee on International Affairs, told reporters.

"The adoption of PACE resolution on non-recognition of State Duma elections in Crimea may complicate the Russian delegation’s return to the Assembly in 2017," Slutsky said.

"It is highly likely that the resolution was adopted on the initiative of our strategic opponents in the West who do not want Russia to have an opportunity at the widest European platform, PACE, to explain its position and tell the truth about modern realities and Crimea’s accession to Russia," he added.

PACE adopted a resolution on the political situation in Ukraine on Wednesday. Upon the initiative of the Ukrainian delegation, an amendment was made to the resolution on non-recognition of elections to the Russian State Duma in Crimea.